John meissner



(No Model.)

J. MEISSNERV A Car Brake. NQ. 242,673, Patented June 7, 881f WITNESSES S BY W ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MEISSNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HENRY a FLEISCHMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242.673, dated June '7, 1881.

, Application filed March 14,1ss1. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MEISSNER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car- 5 Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

The invention is designed as an improvement on the oar-brake for which Letters Patent No. 214,418 were issued to me April 15,

[O 1879; and its object is to simplify and reduce the cost of the operating parts of a brake that will apply as well to the car-wheels when running on curves as when running on a straight line.

1 The invention consists of a horizontal frame having bowed or curved end bars and provided with side sockets for holding the brakeshoes, said frame being held in position against the bottom of the car by longitudinally-mova- 2o ble end clamps or racks in such manner that it is free to accommodate itself to the relative positions of the wheels on curves in the road, said clamps or racks being connected with brake-rods or shafts, whereby said frame may 2 5 be moved longitudinally for applying or turnin g off the brake; and it consists, further, of a device for preventing the accidental setting of the brake when the car is running on a curve, where the rails on one side of the track are higher than on the other side, all of which will be hereinafter described.

Figure 1 is a reverse plan view, with parts broken away to exhibit other parts, showing the improved device in position on the bottom 3 of a car. Fig. 2 is a partly sectional side elevation of the same, with parts broken away to exhibit other parts on line w as, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of the same. Fig. 4: is an end elevation, showing the device for preventing the accidental setting of the brake.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, A represents a car-floor; B, the truck-frame; ,O, a car-axle, and D the 4 5 car-wheels. Abolt, E, passing down through the car-floor A, centrally through a circular anti-frietion plate F, through a strut, G, and truckframe B, and having a nut, a, on its end, holds these parts together and in position. Angle- 5o lugs H, bolted on the cross-bar of the frame B, have their upper ends in contact: with the anti-friction plate F, and thereby afi'ord bearing-points for steadying the frame B when the car is in motion.

. L is the brake-shoe frame having straight parallel sides b and bowed ends 0, as shown, and having in each of its sides two sockets, m, for holding the brake-shoes M, said sockets at having hinged outer sides, a, that may be thrown open for the placing or removal of the shoes M, and that are secured closed in place by screw or other device, as shown at 0.

On the under side of the car-bottom A, near the front thereof, a bolt, 19, holds a plate, N, v by passing through the longitudinal slot p of the latter. Saidplate N is toothed on one edge, as shown at q, thus forming a rack whose teeth engage with a pinion,(), that is held by a'lug,

0, on the car-bottom A. This plate N is provided on its inward end with two downward- 7o projecting screws or lugs, q, that hold the forward bowed end, 0, of the brake-shoe frame L between them in such a manner that said front end of the frame L is thereby held up in position, while at the same time it can swing in a horizontal plane sufficiently to accommodate itself to the position of the car-wheels D as they move on a curve of the road. The pinion O is keyed 0n the lower end of a brake-shaft,

P, which is provided with the usual handle or wheel P. The rear end, 0, of the brake-shoe frame L is held between lugs r, that project downward from an angle-plate, Q, that is screwed on the end of a connecting-rod, Q, that is held upon the under side of the car-bottom A centrally and longitudinally by a box or clamp, Q, as shown, the opposite end of said connecting-rod Q being attached to a like plate, Q, that pertains to the brake attachment of the rear truck of the car. 0

The wooden brake-shoes M, which are out out on their lower edges to correspond, or nearly so, with the curves of the peripheries of the car-wheels D, are provided with broad metallic caps s s to strengthen and make them 5 more durable, and when inserted in the sockets m of the frame L these caps 8 rest on the upper edges of the sockets m, and the shoes M are thereby held just above the rims of the wheels D. 10o

To the inner face of the frame L, on the sockets m are rigidly secured depending angle plates or guards 'I, that reach nearly to, but are not in contact with, the axles C. When the car A is running on a curve where one side of the track is higher than the other, the higher ends of the axles G will press upward against the bottoms of the two guards T on that side,

and thereby elevate the frame L and the brakeshoes M on that side, and thus prevent the braking of the wheels D, which would otherwise occur, there being also, as parts of this preventative device, yokes U, holding elastic springsVon top of the caps s, which yokes U have their, ends slotted, as shown at 00, Fig. 4, and engaged over the projecting ends of the caps s, so that said yokes U can move freely up and down with the elastic movements of the springs V. These springs V serve, by their elasticity, not only to keep the car-body in a horizontal plane when running where one side of a track is higher than the other, but serve also to prevent any sudden jar as the axles 0 come in contact with the guards '1.

To set the brakes power is applied to the brake-shaft P to turn the pinion O in either direction, as the case may be, and this motion and force are transmitted through the rack N, and thence directly to the brake-shoe frame L, so that the said frame L is moved longitudinally, and thereby forces the brake-shoes M in contact with the rims of the car-wheels D, wedging said shoes M at the same time between the rims of said wheels D and the bottom A of the car. In this position said shoes M brake the Wheels D effectively, in which matter the force applied to the brake-shaft P is supplemented by the weight of the car upon the upper surl'aces of said yokes U, and thereby upon the brake-shoes M. Consequently it is obvious that the greater the weight of the car and its load the greater will be the influence they exert in braking the wheels.

As the frame L is free to swing within certain limits between the lugs q 4", and as the brake-shoes M extend below and outside the flanges of the wheels D, it follows, when the car is running on a curve, that the wheel-flanges will bear against the sides of said shoes M, and thereby keep them and the frame L in the same relative position with the wheels D, so that said wheels D can be braked as readily when running on a curve as when running on a straight line.

It represents the rubber buffers or cushions, held in the truck-frame B above the journalboxes S, that support the ends of the axle 0.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A car-brake constructed substantially as herein shown and described, consisting of the brake-shoeframe L, provided with side sockets, m, brake-shoes M, and longitudinallymovable plates N Q, provided with lugs q 1",

held against the bottom of the car, and ar- 6 ranged as set forth.

2. In a car-brake, the combination, with the brake-shoe frame L, of the hinged socket sides n, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a car-brake, the combination, with the movable brake-shoe frame L, of the slotted and toothed plate or rack N, provided with lugs q,

substantially as herein shown and described,

whereby longitudinal motion is transmitted to said frame, as set forth.

4. In a car-brake, the combination,with the brake-shoe frame L and shoes M, of the guards- T, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the said shoes are prevented from accidentall y braking the car-wheels, as set forth.

5. In a car-brake, the combination,with the brake-shoe frame L and shoes M, of the yokes U and springs V, substantially as herein shown, and for the purpose described.

6. In a car-brake, the combinatiomwith the brake-shoe frame L and shoes M, of the guards 'I, yokes U, and springs V, substantially as herein shown, and for the purpose described.

JOHN MEI SSNER.

Witnesses:

CONRAD PE'rRI, HENRY VAN DAHL. 

